P.A.W.S. - what are they, cure, duration

I am very happy that you aren't going through those symptoms all over again I will be very interested to hear how you are going in the future, so keep me posted!

In terms of your reboot, you just need to get back to what you were doing before. It was working, but somewhere down the line it went wrong. Do what you have to do to get yourself back on track.

Good luck buddy

 

Which the way you taken to understand pron addiction

 

I went to to see doctor last month about my symptoms. There are some terms I have read concerning the addiction and was telling them about... They couldn't understand them and some of my symptoms. They referred me to talk to a therapist. One was talking about things that made no sense to me at all. I took their invitation and denied it 2 weeks later.
I had some blood test done and they found my blood sugar went up massively along with cholesterol.

 

Yeah you are bang on the money with everything you've just said. Especially nervous system overload which many things contribute including excessive fap/ porn.

Read some books mate. Get on a very low dose antidepressant if it's what it takes.

Respect for that post as many people will basically blast you as a heretic.

 

Guys, today I went through the most embarrassing moment ever since my PAWS started. I was in a meeting with a group of people at work. The meeting was normal, nothing stressful at all. At one point, a person asked me to explain sth which is not clear to him. And I know everything about that thing in detail and can easily explain. But but but....my brain just doesn't allow that. My heartbeat went off the roof all of a sudden, my voice left me, I almost started shaking and had to exit the meeting just like that. I am at my current job for 7 years and considered among the top. I am actually used to people challenging my ideas during meetings etc and this was nothing of that sort. Although I know this already ever since my PAWS started that I cannot handle a stressful situation like I used to but this is a further confirmation that as of now, things are not just limited to stressful situations

 

what else do you have, testosterone, free testosterone, LH, FSH?

 

I just hit the 5 month mark. I am finally feeling a small sense of well-being and health since my withdrawals kicked in around the 2 week mark. I had to quit my job dream job due to how bad it was.

Cold sweats, 5 hours of sleep, suicidal depression (the thoughts literally just popped into my brain without my doing), severe anxiety, etc. It was so surreal. I had no control no matter how much I fought it.

Now I’m doing better. I’m pretty functional right now but back when shit hit the fan it was actually hell. I used to edge on adderall for hours, taking breaks from studying to open up incognito tabs and edge, meanwhile chugging tea and coffee also. Then at night I would get high and do it some more. It makes sense why my brain got such bad withdrawals now. I thought nothing of it at the time.

For the longest time though I doubted this was from PMO and I honestly have to remind myself that it is by coming to this forum almost everyday. In the past I would relapse when these symptoms came up because I thought there was no way that PMO would cause such a thing, I was skeptical. This time, since I’m seeing symptom improvement, I believe it’s from PMO.

That being said, I’m rooting for a full recovery and can’t wait to start feeling better. I’m estimating around the 8-9 months mark I’ll be consistently feeling good.

It’s also very important to note that I have been trying nofap since 15, am currently 22. In all of that time I believe I seriously kindled the addiction.

I think there are people actually suffering from PAWS and others who are blaming their mental health entirely on nofap when in reality it’s not the cause. For instance, one guy said that after two years of having PAWS, taking an SSRI cured his depression and fixed his PAWS. Like even after being put on an SSRI he still couldn’t make the link that he was just depressed this whole time lol. So be sure to diversify your recovery too... getting therapy is a good idea because while your mind is in this deep dark place you can work on problems that are now on the surface.

 

If Lebowski and whysolong think it was not PAWS, but somekind of unhealthy lifestyle combination or prolonged suffering because of psychosomatic suggestion. Thats their freedom of thought and speech. It's just their subjective experience. And they might be right in their own situation. I was not there to see what happenened in their lifes, with their mental state and their lifestyle choises, so I can't judge. It's good they came back here to give us an update and some advice is fine. But some people tell us that PAWS is not real for us. Because I have read some people blatantly say PAWS is not real. If that's what you really think about all the sufferers here... you are just an ignorant and close minded piece of shit. (Im not talking about you here whysolong, don't be triggered) (and I'm not talking to anyone who actively contributed in this thread)

I could call myself an expert on nofap nowadays. I know exactly how my body reacts to porn and what happens after relapses, edging sessions and orgasms binges for one day and even weeks and months. I have been through so much streaks, withdrawals, feeling healed and relapse cycles since august 2013. I even tried kappa opioid antagonists that block dynorphin (the withdrawal opioid peptide) which made some withdrawal symptoms go away. I have seen all the patterns. I know for me it's PAWS caused by porn. Don't dare to tell me otherwise.

And if you're so sure porn can't cause all these weird disabling symptoms by itself... I challenge you to start a 4 months long porn edge binge sessions with multiple orgasms. Then try to quit again and see what will happen.

 

I agree 100% with @SLeepisLost . I didn't even know the full form of PAWS 4 months ago although I was going through them. I just had some vague idea about withdrawals and that they should go away after 90 days and mine were actually getting stronger at day 120. PAWS happen when you leave substance addiction as well esp if your addiction was for a long period. I am happy for those who recovered without going through PAWS but to deny them after so much research and so many subjects going through it is plain absurd stupidity.

In last 5 years, the research on this and number of people on these forums have increased manifold. And with the increasing cases of sexual dysfunction in young people, I feel porn is definitely going to be officially classified in next 5-7 years as one of the most addictions out there and much stronger than most substance addictions. It is because it directly targets and captures the most important thing in our reward circuit i.e. sex. And PMO is combination of three addictions which directly hit our reward system i.e. watching hot women in all ways & manners, masturbation and ultimately orgasm. And there are people out there who combine these three combinations with substance abuse as well i.e. they like to PMO when they are high on some substance as well. I just wonder how bad their PAWS must be!!!

 

So after reading all these updates, I'd say:

- PAWS are real
- PMO addiction is one piece of a bigger puzzle
- For some people this puzzle-piece is very significant in their health status, for other not so much
- Most of us here fall under the category of having "neurological functional disorder" and/or "neurasthenia"
- A holistic approach is needed for most of us to heal (this doesn't have to be woo-woo at all, take for example the subject of epigenetics)

 

so you've been having PAWS since 2013?

 

They're doomed

 

I'm not specifically saying PAWS is not real and it's all psychosomatic. I'm saying that when you quit a substance or addiction your brain has to go through a cluster fuck of changes and when you keep pounding your brain with negative thinking, high cortisol , depression , lack of enjoyment, coming on a forum every day and reinforcing potentially false beliefs etc etc etc then you are literally bringing your recovery to a stand still.

The body wants to go back to homeostasis and I think people are unconsciously getting in the way.

So many people on here just think mood and wellbeing is based on healthy levels of neurotransmitters and all they have to do is serve a couple of years of abstinence and everything's going to be great.

Keep in mind you have all come to your understanding of nofap through largely bro science and unaccountable people on the internet, try to consider the possibility that only 50% of what you are being told is true. You've all got a belief system based on information that might not entirely be accurate.

When I read things like nofap is on par with heroin withdrawal or nofap has PAWS on par with benzos withdrawal that's a massive fucking red flag to me that certain people are completely hysterical and are the ones getting in the way of there recovery through psychosomatic suggestion or put simply making a mountain out of a mole Hill / stressing themselves out.

I don't want to sound like a narcissistic cunt so please don't think im talking down to any of you but I probably have a much wider degree of knowledge based on brain plasticity , the placebo effect, the balancing of hormones etc than most people on here. If I didn't believe in what I was saying then I wouldn't be trying to help some of you. I gain nothing from sticking around here anymore , I do it because I want you guys to have what I now have.

 

This comment is exactly what I'm talking about. Couldn't think of a better example .

 

@whysolong 2 questions from what you have written above:

1- Have you recovered from any other addiction besides PMO? And I specifically mean substance addiction.
2- Did you go through PAWS after leaving PMO? If yes, how long were they and how did you recover from them?

 

Nofap can have PAWS on par with benzo withdrawal

 

then please practice what you preach

 

Good, now you also can look inside everyones head?
please show us the evidence of this claim..

 

Now, this is what he is saying himself, but somehow it has all changed. I am not sure what exactly is he trying to convey anymore

 

Yes I have said many times in these thread that indeed negative thinking and worrying might indeed increase stress response and thereby increase anxiety and for some naive people on here it can increase their suffering. It could be the case for some and it seems to have been the reason for your suffering as well. I'm not really like that and know about all kind of drugs, supplements, withdrawals to know what is caused by withdrawal and what's not caused by withdrawal.

You're talking about benzo and heroin withdrawal. I been through the most agonizing high dose psychotic cold turkey withdrawals (PÁWS) known to men. High dose benzo, high dose opioid, high dose pregabalin. I all healed from these withdrawals that almost killed me. I even healed a couple of times during long nofap streaks back in the days. Although these porn withdrawals arent as bad as high dose cold turkey benzo or pregabalin withdrawals, they can still be disabling and long lasting. I'm not that arrogant and ignorant to go to benzobuddies and tell them they should leave the forum alone and heal faster. I recovered much faster than the people that were using much lower doses than me and they even used then shorter than I did. People would react the same way like they do here, if I would tell them they are not yet healed because the forum hold them back.

You say you think you have the most understanding about neuroplasticity, addiction science etc. I don't want to sound cocky here but I doubt you know more than me about pharmacology, hormones and addiction science than me. Maybe you should read some of my old posts. You can call it broscience all you want. Broscience is a term mostly used by gymrats and bodybuilders (I used to be a gymrat giving steroid advice on these forums) They do have valid reasons to use the broscience term when people give outragious claims about steroid cycles and other false outragious claims.

Behaviour addiction can cause withdrawal symptoms. This is a well know fact and does not qualify as broscience at all. Any longterm dopaminergic activity activating dopamine D1R spiny neurons cascades a reaction via protein kinase and CREB, accumulates DeltaFOSB and causes long term brain changes and creates an addictive state that can cause the anti reward path (withdráwal) to activate when the addictive behaviour is being stopped.